Sneaking out of the house was indeed quite a simple matter.

He did not even have to hack the security cameras, as most of the security focused on keeping people out rather than in.

As Dick stood, brushing off his clothes and glancing back at the manor, dark and foreboding in the night, a slow smile spread across his lips. Everything was playing right into his hands.

He turned back toward the road, beginning the long walk to inner Gotham City.

It would take a while, but Dick quite liked being alone in his thoughts, mulling over the next step in the plan.

Thus far, things could not have possibly worked out more perfectly.

Slade had been right about the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman. While it was unsure what exactly that connection was, it was most definitely there. That much had been proven when news sources showed that Batman had taken a more serious interest in gang activity ever since his talk with Bruce.

Just as planned.

Now all Dick needed to do was place himself in the crossfire.

A few miles away from the manor Dick found a motorcycle partially hidden in a clump of bushes.

Slade really had thought of everything.

The rest of the trip into the city went by quickly, although Dick did avoid the main roads. After all, it would look rather odd to most people if a young child was seen speeding down the street.

He ditched the motorcycle in a back alley several blocks from his final destination, leaving the keys on the seat. It would be stolen within minutes of him walking away.

Dick loved Gotham.

The thievery made it easy to clean up evidence.

Making his way cautiously through darkened alleyways, Dick tugged his hood over his hair, pulling it down enough to partially cover his face. He had put effort into dressing like an amateur, down to a black hoodie and red bandana wrapped around the lower half of his face.

To him, it looked stupid.

To others, it would hopefully look like he was a clueless kid who did not know what they were doing. Clueless child usually fell into the cute category, and Dick knew how to play up his cute and innocent act.

Things were only about to get worse. He hated this part of the plan.

It was going to be so embarrassing.

Letting out a long sigh, Dick tugged the cover off an air vent and slipped inside. He did his best to make it sloppy, leaving the vent cover partially off as he made his way into the building. When he exited the vent, he deliberately let the cover clatter to the ground, alerting those in the building that there was an intruder.

He scrunched up his nose in distaste as his eyes scanned the mostly empty room. It looked like an office.

Good.

Dick did his best to channel his inner good-doer child and hid under the desk.

It had not been hard to figure out which mob run warehouse Batman would hit next. After all, he had been targeting one group in particular.

Poor Tony Zucco.

He was just too perfect to set up.

The man had a history in the circus for crying out loud. He was even known for bullying any performative acts that entered Gotham, and he had been around back when Dick's parents were killed.

Of course, Dick knew that the only reason Batman would be targeting Zucco was because of the connection to child trafficking which Dick explained to Bruce, and not in fact the murder of his parents.

Because Batman killed them.

There was no way that Batman would pass up a lead to bust some child traffickers. And, judging by the pattern that Dick had observed on the news, this was the last warehouse openly owned by Tony Zucco.

Batman would be here.

Dick listened as footsteps passed the door to the office, waiting a few moments before he slipped out from under the desk and made his way over to the door, inching it open slowly.

Like most warehouses, this one was primarily open space with a few office rooms along one wall, making it easy to see the guards patrolling the high catwalks and along the floor.

Looking up, Dick scanned the darkness of the ceiling.

Surely... there.

A darker shape in the farthest corner.

Dick grinned.

Batsy was here.

He stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him before sneaking toward a pile of crates. It was going to be hard, not revealing his true fighting skill while also trying to put enough in to seem promising, but he was always ready for a challenge.

With a final glance up at the dark shadow of Batman in the rafters, Dick sprang into action, launching himself at the nearest guard.

Acrobat, not fighter. Acrobat, not fighter. Not trained.

He focused on moving fluidly, relying on what he remembered from his time in the circus and street fighting tactics that would make sense with his fabricated background.

It only took a few moments of his poor fighting attempts before Batman swooped down to join the fight.

Hiding his smirk, Dick ducked to avoid an oncoming knife thrust, flipping back onto his hands to propel himself forward, foot slamming into the guard's face.

Too smooth.

Dick tilted his body ever so slightly, throwing himself off balance and rolling to the floor in a heap.

Gunshots rang through the air, and Dick had to put effort into not rolling away faster. A bullet grazed his shoulder and he let out an exaggerated cry of pain before a hand was on his shoulder and he was jerked out of the way.

Batman pulled the boy behind him, speaking in a rough growl. "What do you think you're doing? You don't even have a weapon? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I'm trying to help." Dick protested, sounding genuinely offended.

"This is not your fight, kid." Batman snapped, grasp now firm on Dick's arm as he jerked him behind a pile of crates to avoid a new onslaught of bullets.

Dick frowned, yanking hard against his grip. "Let go of me. This is my fight. This place belongs to the man who killed my family."

Batman turned his head to glower down at the boy before he was distracted by a guard who was now dangerously close. "Just... just stay here. I have work to do."

And with that, Batman released Dick's arm and hurtled himself into the midst of the fight.

Even Dick had to admit that he was an impressive fighter.

However, that did not mean that he was about to stay out of it. If it was Slade telling him then sure, maybe he would have stayed put. But this was Batman. And Dick hated Batman.

So, naturally, Dick rejoined the fight.

Even with Dick deliberately holding back, the fight did seem incredibly easy, although that was probably also due to the fact that Batman took out almost every goon that Dick was trying to target.

It was infuriating.

Still, Dick managed to get successfully beaten up while also dealing a decent amount of damage before the fight was over.

Panting softly, he reached up to wipe away the blood trickling from his probably broken nose, deliberately knocking his hood back to reveal his full features, the bandana having come loose fairly early on in the fight.

Batman was not impressed.

"Richard?" The dark knight asked, tone a mixture between disbelief and anger.

Dick blinked up at him, brows furrowing in mock confusion, one hand moving up to clutch at the shoulder which had been grazed earlier. "I... do I know you?"

Batman practically growled, hand clamping down on Dick's uninjured shoulder as he forcefully guided him out of the building. He stayed silent until they were both safely situated in the Batmobile before pulling down his cowl and turning to glower at the boy.

Dick blinked. Then he blinked again. Huh.

Interesting.

Bruce Wayne did not just have a connection with Batman. Bruce Wayne was Batman.

And Bruce Wayne looked about ready to kill his adopted son.

"What exactly do you think you were doing? That was dangerous! You've only just recovered from what Joker did to you. Were you trying to get killed? How did you even get here?" Bruce demanded, concern and anger lacing together into a genuinely terrifying tone.

Dick looked away, fiddling anxiously with his fingers. "I walked... I... I wanted to help... It was my family that he killed... me that was trafficked and tortured. It was my fight. I wanted to take him down."

Bruce shook his head, starting up the vehicle and beginning to drive. "That does not make this acceptable. What if I hadn't been there? How did you even know that that place belonged to Zucco?"

"I didn't know his name. But you... Batman... Batman has been taking out warehouses like that. It's all over the news. It wasn't hard to figure out. Besides... you can't be mad at me when you've been lying to me this whole time. You'reBatman. You. My adopted father. What kind of person adopts someone and doesn't spend any time with them because they're out fighting random criminals? What if you died, huh? I-I... I've already lost one f-father..."

Dick was laying it on thick. Even he could tell that. But, as he forced out tears and made his shoulders shake, he knew that it was working.

Bruce sighed, reaching over to gently ruffle Dick's hair. "Hey... shhh... it's okay. I'm not going to die, okay? I've been doing this for too long to let some ordinary thugs take me out. But that still doesn't make what you did okay, alright, bud?"

Dick sniffled, curling up on the seat and refusing to look at Bruce.

Ugh. Acting vulnerable was such a pain.

"W-why not? If you can fight them, why can't I?"

"That's not..." Bruce trailed off with another sigh, falling silent for a few more moments. "I've had training, okay? You're not ready for this kind of thing. Take tonight for example. You could have been seriously hurt. You were hurt."

This time, Dick did turn to look at him, blue eyes wide and filled with tears but filled with determination, nonetheless. "Then train me, Bruce. I... you can't stop me from trying to fight. I'll just sneak out again. If you want me to stay safe, then let me help. Teach me how to help."

Bruce fought back a groan. How could he say no when Dick was looking at him like that? It was not fair. So, he uttered the words that would change his life forever:

"Fine. I'll train you."